'Bhavya' Ram Mandir in Ayodhya to rise on holy water and sacred soil from across India [DETAILS]

Ayodhya: Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya after 14 years in exile along with Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman, and the entire kingdom was lit with diyas in celebration, what we know as ‘Deepavali’ today.

This tale from the legends of Ramayana is set for an encore when Ram Lalla will be given a befitting resting place in a ‘bhavya’ mandir in His birthplace, thanks to centuries of struggle by Hindutva activists and believers.

‘Maryada Purushottam’ Ram was a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu and is an epitome of righteousness. It’s only fair then that the temple in his honour is built on the foundation of faith and beliefs from the holiest of lands.

Sacred soil from prominent temples from across the country and water from almost all religiously-significant water bodies in India are going to play a pivotal role in the construction of the highly-anticipated Ram temple.

The holy elements are going to be in Ayodhya when Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the ‘bhoomi pujan

’ on August 5 for the construction of the temple.

Though the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust was mandated with the responsibility to construct the ‘bhavya mandir’, several Hindutva organisations took it upon them to collect sacred soil and water from across the country, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad has been instrumental in this regard.

If VHP Secretary-General Milind Parande is to be believed, the sacred soil and water have already reached Ayodhya.

Let’s take a detailed look at some of those places:

Badrinath and Alaknanda: Soil from one of the four sites of India’s Char Dham pilgrimage and water from River Alaknanda, which is a tributary of the Holy Ganga, will feature among other sacred elements in Ayodhya for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the temple. The water was dispatched in a ‘Kalash’ along with soil from Badrinath by RSS, BJP and VHP workers.

Bengal: Sacred soil from significant temples in West Bengal and holy water from ‘sangam’, the confluence of River Ganga with other rivers, is expected to feature in the ceremony in Ayodhya. “Holy water from confluences of rivers such as Gangasagar, Bhagirathi, Triveni, along with the sacred soil of various temples like Kalighat, Dakhineshwar, Gangasagar and Madan Mohan temple of Coochbehar will be sent to Ayodhya,” senior VHP leader and media-in-charge of Bengal, Sourish Mukherjee, said.

Sangam (Prayagraj): Soil and water from Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, will be a part of the ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony. Leaders of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) carried the Sangam soil and water to Ayodhya.

‘Devbhoomi’: Sacred soil from all shrines in Uttarakhand is set to feature among the holy elements in Ayodhya on August 5, along with soil from the temples in the Himalayan state. “Uttarakhand is known as Devbhoomi and has been considered a holy land for ages. We will send soil from all the four shrines – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, along with water from there, for the construction of the Ram temple,” Manoj Verma, VHP’s organising secretary for Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand zone, told Hindustan Times

. He also said that soil from certain peeths, or shrines, in Dehradun and Haridwar will also be sent along with Ganga waters from Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar.

Kamakhya: VHP workers have collected sacred soil from the Maa Kamakhya Devalaya in Guwahati, Assam for the groundbreaking ceremony on August 5. Kavindra Sarma, Doloi (head priest) of Maa Kamakhya Devalaya Management Committee, told local publication G Plus that members from the VHP collected soil from the temple premises on July 27.

Meghalaya: Soil and water from Meghalaya’s Jaintia Hills will also feature in the sacred ceremony in Ayodhya. Local Pnar tribals, who practive the ancient indigenous ‘Niamtre’ faith, collected the elements and dispatched to Ayodhya on Monday. The elements were collected from the Syntu Ksiar River in Jowai and Myntang River in Nartiang village of West Jaintia Hills district. The Puramon Kynjing, the Doloi of Elaka Jowai, and Hep Dhar, the Doloi of Elaka Nartiang, collected the water and soil from Myntdu River in Jowai and the Myntang River for their contribution, Times of India

reported.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: The RSS has been in the frontline with the VHP in getting the land and honour back to the Hindus and build the promised ‘magnificent’ temple in the name of Lord Ram. And it was imperative that they would play a pivotal role even in the groundbreaking ceremony. Keeping these same sentiments in mind, soil from the RSS headquarters in Nagpur were dispatched to Ayodhya last week. Govind Shende, the Vidarbha prant pramukh of VHP, told news agency PTI

that soil from Shree Ram Mandir in Ramtek and water from Ambhora (the confluence of five rivers), both near Nagpur, have been sent for the ‘bhoomi pujan’.